Vale Vets Dursley

17/06/2024

It’s……RUPERT!! 😍😍

Who remembers this little prince? - Rupert, who was hospitalised with us for over a fortnight back in November 2022 after an unfortunate incident which left him needing emergency care.

Rupert came to see us this week for his annual booster vaccinations; and in true Rupert style he made sure to visit all his Vale friends for pets and treats.
I’m sure you’ll all agree how well he looks- we’re very proud of our brave little superstar and his loving family.

It’s great to see you, handsome boy! 💙

17/06/2024

On Sunday the 16th we had a cat brought into us; sadly he has passed away. He's an entire, likely young, adult male - all black, with no microchip. If you think this may be your cat please call us on 01453 542092.

12/06/2024

**PerfectFit Harness**

Did you know we offer a bespoke fitting service for a “Perfect Fit” harness for your dog?

This would be a 45-minute consultation with one of our specialised nurses – your dog’s harness would be fitted at the same time and, if the specific size and colour wasn’t available, we could order it in for you.

So why does your dog need a Perfect Fit harness?

- The Perfect Fit harness is made up of 3 pieces, meaning we can fit almost any size and shape of dog!
- The harness is really secure and you will feel more in control of your dog.
- It is ‘the ultimate walking harness’, negating the need for long collar-and-lead walks and reducing the risk of issues such as eye problems, collapsed trachea, thyroid disorders and lymphatic system problems.
- It is specifically designed to evenly distribute the weight of the dog and reduces rubbing and friction, meaning a calmer and more balanced walk!
- The Perfect Fit is highly comfortable for your dog and gives full free range of front leg movement.
- It is available in the following fetching colours!

Why not enquire about a Perfect Fit harness fitting today?

10/06/2024

**Compulsory microchipping for cats!**

As of today, it is a legal requirement to have your cats microchipped, here is a helpful video to explain! 🐈‍⬛

07/06/2024

We've had a cat brought into us who had sadly passed away. He was an entire male tabby with white bib and paws and was found at Kingshill Road Dursley. He isn't microchipped.

If you think he might be yours please call us on 01453 542092. Thank you.

31/05/2024

💚🩺DAY 31 - Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month🩺💚

It’s the final day of - we hope you have enjoyed all our posts this month, and we thank you so much for reading them and learning about the huge variety of skills and progression our amazing team at Vale have undertaken. We are actually going to end this celebratory month by showcasing a bright shining star who will soon enough be a qualified .

This is John, one of our Student Veterinary Nurses, who has almost completed his first year of nursing training.

John studied at the University of the West of England; Hartpury College to gain his bachelor's degree (Hons) in animal science in 2015. Since then, John has worked at Teckles Animal Sanctuary, caring for and rehabilitating homeless cats and dogs but mainly focusing on those with greater behavioural requirements.

In September 2021, John joined Vale Vets and Referrals as a member of the night hospital assistant team before transitioning to the day team in July 2022. John started his student veterinary nurse training in September 2023.

John’s main passion is canine behaviour. He has attended several in-person and online courses focused on this subject. Some of our team have been lucky enough to know John since he was working in animal rescue, boarding and behaviour at Teckels. We can only say that we are truly privileged to have John with us now. Imagine your pet, a very much loved member of your family, but with a traumatic or unknown background needs to be admitted to the hospital for a procedure? - there would be nobody more calming, understanding and truly responsive to their needs than John. John would not bat an eyelid if your pet displayed a nervous or fear-based behaviour - he would simply do whatever it took to make their hospital stay more comfortable and manageable for them. For this, his patients and colleagues are profoundly grateful.

John has often been found in the hospital 30 minutes before his shift starts (much to his managers’ reprimand!) - diligently preparing your pet’s comfortable bed for their hospital stay or preparing a freshly diluted antiseptic wash for the day’s theatre list. He is a true spokesman for companion animals as well as animals in need - we are extremely lucky to have had John join our team, and every animal in his care is too. Here’s to ending with our gentle, caring, hard-working and dependable John🙏🏻- we can honestly say we would all want our pets to be looked after by you, and the future of is really safe in your hands.

30/05/2024

💚🩺DAY 30 - Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month🩺💚

We couldn’t let pass by without us highlighting this absolute legend of a Senior Veterinary Nurse, Natalie, who has been with Vale Vets since 2006! Many clients will know her friendly face, as she began her career with us and worked up the ranks having been deputy head nurse, then head nurse and finally the Senior Nurse who’s in charge of our Student Nurses, overseeing their coaching and being their point of contact, to help shape them into the next cohort of talented nurses like her. 🩺

Nat enjoys being on the referral nursing team, but her heart truly lies with the first opinion caseload and in particular being assigned Clinical Lead on any given day. She would be found happiest on a busy day of surgeries, prioritising and organising the team around her, as they dealt with the day’s elective surgeries plus any emergencies that are rushed through the door.

Nat is also a trained first aider, fire marshall and is responsible for stock control - there is nothing this lady can’t do. Her family background involves working police dogs, which would explain the particular soft spot and understanding she always has for any big, headstrong canines 🐾 (pictured here with some of her beloved family members past and present)❤️

Natalie is inspired by the work of our busy hospital, and she loves being able to care for her patients like they’re her own. We would argue that as she has given so much of her working life and dedication to each animal she’s met, they are all ‘hers’ and a part of her heart. ❤️ A true ambassador for animals and for

29/05/2024

💚🩺DAY 29 - Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month🩺💚

Our streak of public appreciation for our fantastic Hospital Assistants continues with our wonderful Jemima 😍she is pictured here cuddling Finn, who would like everyone to know that half the number of eyes equals twice the measure of handsomeness 😻😻😻😻❤️

Jem joined us at Vale Vets and Referrals in January 2023 as a member of our night hospital assistant team, having previously completed her animal management qualification at Hartpury College.

Her goal is to eventually undertake her student veterinary nurse training and qualify as a Veterinary Nurse. It’s taken some time for Jemima to join the veterinary profession with her previous career taking her down a completely different path, however she is now determined to reach this end goal and is a step closer after having now moved onto our day team! ☀️

Jemima has proved that her work ethic is second to none and she works to an excellent standard, already being adept at handling and restraining patients for procedures, as well as proficient stocking and upkeep of the whole hospital. We are so delighted that she has now moved onto the day team with us; meaning she will gain more experience of the patient journey from day case admissions to elective referral surgeries and beyond. With a family at home, as well as 3 beautiful cats, it’s no mean feat for Jemima to have made a complete change to her whole lifestyle and switched her entire working pattern upside-down.

She is kind, funny, hardworking and a joy to work alongside - already an invaluable member of the nursing team, there is no doubt in our minds that Jemima will make a brilliant Veterinary Nurse in the not too distant future! Thank you so much for everything you do J❤️

28/05/2024

💚🩺DAY 28 - Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month🩺💚

On day 28 we continue to showcase the phenomenal support our nursing team has in the form of our Hospital Assistants, and tonight we say a massive thanks to Bailey 🙌🏻💕

Bailey joined the team in the summer of 2023. Prior to this she was an Early Years Practitioner in a nursery - therefore already possessing the great qualities of patience, a supportive nature and helping to support those who depend on her. ❤️
When we see the way Bailey is always invested in the patients she helps to look after, and how proud she is when they are able to go home to their families, her work background is no surprise at all.

As well as her patients, Bailey also fitted in with the team from the word ‘go’ - she brings such a bubbly, friendly nature and lots of laughter 🥰

As did many of the team, Bailey had a soft spot for our handsome patient, Tommy, who recently had to have surgery on a badly injured leg. Here she is giving the gorgeous boy some love and attention. 🐾

Here’s a massive shout out and lots of love from all the team for our Bailey 🙌🏻

27/05/2024

💚🩺DAY 27 - Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month🩺💚

We’re nearing the end of but losing no momentum in showcasing our nurses’ progression - our Acting Nursing Manager (for maternity leave cover), Hannah M, has accumulated quite the repertoire of impressive skills during her 13 years in practice (and counting).

Hannah joined us at Vale in 2020, progressed shortly afterwards to management as a Senior Nurse, and is now really enjoying helping to manage the clinical floor and conduct in-house training for our nurses. Hannah began coaching a year after qualifying as a nurse, and she is incredibly knowledgeable - especially on all things surgery and advanced anaesthesia, the subject closest to her heart. ❤️If a patient requires use of the anaesthesia ventilator during their GA, or is on a complicated combination of drug infusions running at the same time - Hannah is your girl.

She holds an advanced nursing certificate in anaesthesia and has over the years been involved with anaesthetising exotic patients including tortoises, bearded dragons, swans and even a wallaby!
All Hannah’s experience has never detracted from the fact that she thrives on camaraderie and always seeing the positive side of things at work; she encourages proper teamwork and a good level of morale which is vital.

Every patient Hannah sees will be treated just like her own: her heart might belong to her beloved shih tzu, Timmy, but she definitely has enough love to go around!

Here are some photos of Hannah
- With a patient in theatre receiving several medications through drip pumps via CRI (Constant Rate Infusion)
- At home with Timmy
- Still smiling with surgical shoes full of urine 😂
- Monitoring an exotic patient under anaesthetic!
- Helping neuter street dogs in Thailand before working in referral practice.

Rarely will you find someone so devoted to their passion; it’s truly awe-inspiring to see what Hannah has achieved and what she brings to us here at Vale Vets & Referrals.

27/05/2024

***Road closed***

A quick notice to say that a section of Taits Hill just outside the practice is closed this morning preventing drivers’ access from this direction.

24/05/2024

💚🩺DAY 24 - Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month🩺💚

When you can’t pin the boss down for a photo so you have to use the stock image from our website! 😉

A strong nursing team needs a strong Nursing Manager, and here she is, Lucy. After graduating from the Royal Veterinary College in 2008, Lucy worked for 11 years at Fitzpatrick Referrals. She undertook six years of fast-paced clinical nursing before then leading a large team of veterinary nurses for the following five years. During her time there Lucy gained the Graduate Diploma in Professional and Clinical Veterinary Nursing and the level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management.

Lucy brought her leadership credentials with her in December 2019 to us at Vale Vets and Referrals as our nursing manager, and our nursing team has gone from strength to strength with her support.

Her main areas of interest are anaesthesia and emergency and critical care, as well as the progression of registered veterinary nurses. Lucy has lectured in both clinical veterinary nursing and management subjects, as her experience ranges from nursing critical and high dependency patients to creating professional development courses for veterinary nurses.

Lucy’s role in managing the ever-growing nursing team leads her to mostly administrational duties these days, although when needed she only needs seconds’ notice to be back in her green scrubs, leading the team on the clinical floor.

Lucy finds great pleasure in coaching and seeing her team flourish, and those working under her can honestly say they have thrived under her learned and watchful eye - we are all better nurses for it. Thank you so much for your support, Lucy! 🙏🏻

As well as lots of appreciation, we are also sending you all our love and best wishes as you’ve now headed off on maternity leave to welcome your second (human) child. See you soon!

24/05/2024

Here are our colleagues, Veterinary Surgeon Sara and Veterinary Nurse Rachel, who this week attended the IVC Evidensia Brilliant People Awards, having been shortlisted as finalists! 🥳

Sara was nominated in the 'We Care' category and Rachel in the 'Client Hero' category. For our clients who know Sara and Rachel, it will be of no surprise to discover that these wonderful colleagues of ours have been recognised for the outstanding care they provide to our clients and patients and how they often go 'above and beyond'.

Although they didn't walk away with an award on the night, to be shortlisted amongst 900+ nominations, is a huge achievement and all of us here at Vale Vets are so proud of them! 🥰

In addition to these individual accolade's, we as a practice were also shortlisted as finalists within the 'Quality Improvement' category for our hard work and effort to continuously deliver exceptional clinical care and decision-making.

Well done Team Vale!!!! ❤️

24/05/2024

☀️Bank Holiday Opening Hours☀️

Just a reminder to all of our opening hours this Spring bank holiday weekend.

🔅Saturday 25th May 9am-12:30pm for appointments
🔅Sunday 26th May: Emergencies only
🔅Monday 27th May: Emergencies only

23/05/2024

We would like to thank all our clients who attended our Pet First Aid Awareness evening last night! It was a really successful evening and we've already had great feedback from those who came along! ❤

We will be looking to arrange some more educational and informative evenings in the future, so watch this space! 😃

20/05/2024

☀️☀️SUMMER at Vale Vets! ☀️☀️☀️

With Spring having well and truly sprung and the sunshine finally appearing; our reception staff have worked really hard at ensuring our seasonal stand is well stocked for the coming months - as you can see we have a whole range of new summer items, toys and new treats 🌼☀️🍦🐾

We’re sure you’ll agree that the new items are super cute, and do also have a look at the items that help keep your dog/cat COOL💦😎in the hot weather.

Our other retail stands have new items and treats all restocked too.

Why not take advantage of the hard work our retail team have done, and treat your pooches/kitties to something new to take to the park, garden or on your holidays🙂🦆🦈🎾

19/05/2024

💚🩺DAY 19 - Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month🩺💚

It’s time to bring awareness to part of the nursing team that we simply couldn’t do our job without. Our Hospital Assistants (HAs) ensure the smooth running of the hospital and they are never standing still. Many of our HAs begin their career here at Vale, learning the ropes of animal husbandry and general cleaning, fetching, restocking and then often go on to study as Veterinary Nurses. As nurses we would be completely lost without our supportive Hospital Assistants.

Shown here making sure Flossie safely eats her meal after her dental surgery, is our wonderful Sinead, who has only been with us since August 2023, joining after completing her Animal Management course at Hartpury College. In this short time, Sinead has absolutely excelled and is an invaluable member of the nursing team - you’ll find her scrubbing and sterilising surgical instruments, turning around countless loads of clean bedding and washing ready for patients to arrive, walking our inpatient dogs out to our run, organising your pet’s diagnostic tests and samples as they go to our external labs, and of course comforting and holding paws of those who need her. 🩷

We love and appreciate Sinead because nothing that is asked of her is ever too much. She gets completely stuck in to any tasks required, and completes them to an impressive standard, always with a smile on her face. She is super quick to learn and always on hand to help.

Thank you Sinead, from Vale Vets and all our patients - you have already made such a huge impact. ❤️

18/05/2024

💚🩺DAY 18 - Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month🩺💚

Today we celebrate the shining star that is Kayleigh. Kayleigh loves working in our ward area ensuring that your pets have the most comfortable stay whilst they are feeling poorly. Her warm and gentle heart gives them so much love and care whilst they are with us. She always goes above and beyond for every patient within her care.

Despite only qualifying as a veterinary nurse in July 2022, Kayleigh’s knowledge and skills have already reached a really high level and therefore you can also find her often working within our referral medicine department which is another area where her clinical interests lie. Before vet nursing Kayleigh’s career started within the human nursing sector until she quickly decided her love and passion actually lay with nursing animals not humans!!

She is highly versatile though within our team and can also be found either monitoring anaesthetics for our 1st opinion patients undergoing surgery. Or she is sometimes helping out our nurse clinic team seeing a range of patients in our popular evening nursing clinics.

Kayleigh has only recently joined us at Vale after she relocated from the South East to join us in sunny Gloucestershire. She has settled into our team seamlessly, it feels like she’s been working with us for years, her warm and bubbly personality is so great to work alongside. I think you would agree that we are incredibly lucky that she made this big life decision to come and work with us and our patients. Thank you Kayleigh for all you’ve brought to Vale ❤️

17/05/2024

💚🩺DAY 17 - Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month 🩺💚

Today we'd like to pay homage to one of our absolutely amazing referral nurses. Here is Laura 💚and she's recovering Alfie who underwent referral surgery just this week. Laura graduated as a Registered Veterinary Nurse from the University of Bristol in 2017 and joined Vale Vets and Referrals as a referral nurse in 2021 - surgical nursing is her main passion, and her knowledge of how best to nurse these cases is absolutely second to none. Clients are regularly referred from their first opinion veterinary practice for their pets to have specialist surgery with us; be it orthopaedic or soft tissue surgery, and Laura always ensures that she provides the gold standard of care to her patients no matter the complexity of the anaesthetic or procedure.
Laura has spent some time living in Australia since qualifying as a nurse - she enjoyed a year travelling and exploring the country, doing locum work in veterinary practices and gaining experience nursing all the animals and wildlife to be found Down Under.🇦🇺 Since being with us at Vale, Laura has gained her Level 2 award as a Mental Health First Responder and become a clinical coach, supporting student veterinary nurses through their training and imparting her great knowledge and wisdom to help the students pass their nursing Diploma - her current student is due to qualify this coming year. 🤞
Laura is our champion for infection control and in recent years became our IVC Infection Prevention and Control Ambassador. She is also a very strong advocate for Sustainability, and has been integral in engaging our team here at Vale to help protect our planet for future generations,🌎 promoting our "green group" and getting the nurses involved in activities based around recycling and energy saving. Laura has managed to lead our team here at Vale such that we were able to achieve IVC Evidensia's Positive Pawprint status! 🐾This is a huge step forwards in reducing our environmental impact and setting sustainability standards - nothing could be more important than this.
Laura is an ambassador not only for her patients, but also for her profession, her students, animals and the planet we share with them. What an incredible nurse to have on the team.👏

17/05/2024

💚🩺DAY 17 - Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month 🩺💚

Today we'd like to pay homage to one of our absolutely amazing referral nurses. Here is Laura 💚and she's recovering Alfie who underwent referral surgery just this week.

Laura graduated as a Registered Veterinary Nurse from the University of Bristol in 2017 and joined Vale Vets and Referrals as a referral nurse in 2021 - surgical nursing is her main passion, and her knowledge of how best to nurse these cases is absolutely second to none. Clients are regularly referred from their first opinion veterinary practice for their pets to have specialist surgery with us; be it orthopaedic or soft tissue surgery, and Laura always ensures that she provides the gold standard of care to her patients no matter the complexity of the anaesthetic or procedure.

Laura has spent some time living in Australia since qualifying as a nurse - she enjoyed a year travelling and exploring the country, doing locum work in veterinary practices and gaining experience nursing all the animals and wildlife to be found Down Under.🇦🇺
Since being with us at Vale, Laura has gained her Level 2 award as a Mental Health First Responder and become a clinical coach, supporting student veterinary nurses through their training and imparting her great knowledge and wisdom to help the students pass their nursing Diploma - her current student is due to qualify this coming year. 🤞

Laura is our champion for infection control and in recent years became our IVC Infection Prevention and Control Ambassador. She is also a very strong advocate for Sustainability, and has been integral in engaging our team here at Vale to help protect our planet for future generations,🌎 promoting our "green group" and getting the nurses involved in activities based around recycling and energy saving.
Laura has managed to lead our team here at Vale such that we were able to achieve IVC Evidensia's Positive Pawprint status! 🐾This is a huge step forwards in reducing our environmental impact and setting sustainability standards - nothing could be more important than this.

Laura is an ambassador not only for her patients, but also for her profession, her students, animals and the planet we share with them. What an incredible nurse to have on the team.

16/05/2024

💚🩺DAY 16 - Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month🩺💚

Each year Independent Vet Care (IVC) pays special recognition to those who have gone the extra mile for our clients, colleagues and animals, by way of the Brilliant People Awards.
This is an annual awards ceremony that celebrates some of the brilliant people who work with us in all the IVC practices across the country. Someone who received a nomination for one of these awards was none other than our very own Zoe G. 🤩

We are very impressed with Zoe’s nomination; although we didn’t need it to tell us that she truly IS brilliant. Zoe completed a level 3 Diploma in Animal Management before joining us at Vale Vets and Referrals in 2017 as a hospital assistant. She then went on to complete the intensive studying as a Student Veterinary Nurse with us and qualified in August 2023.

Zoe has a keen interest in anaesthesia and plans to complete a certificate in this area in the future. She has recently started working within our referral surgery team helping to deliver more advanced anaesthesia in complex surgeries. Despite being fairly newly qualified, Zoe is a phenomenal nurse and our students value working with her very highly. Zoe has a patient, level-headed approach to every task she undertakes and we don’t think she really knows how beneficial she is to learn from. She’ll do anything to help her patients and colleagues and she deserves the nomination a thousand times over.

Please join us on day 16 of in congratulating brilliant Zoe on all her amazing achievements.

15/05/2024

💚🩺DAY 15 - Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month🩺💚

It’s natural to worry about your pet when they unfortunately have to stay in hospital overnight. Home doesn’t feel right without them and it’s difficult to sleep, wondering how they are doing under the watchful eye of our night nurses.
We can confirm your furry friend will mostly be resting and recovering quietly, with just a few interruptions for essential medications, feeds, vital observations and toilet breaks if needed. Some animals cope very well, but are feeling poorly so need their sleep. Others definitely benefit from lots of attention and a bedtime snuggle companion. Kayleigh is more than happy to oblige. Here she is with sweet Eddy during his overnight stay. ❤️

Kayleigh has a wealth of previous experience in veterinary referral nursing; and emergency and critical care. She joined the referral team here at Vale in 2022 but has now been a night nurse with us for around seven months. Kayleigh enjoys a complex, critical case and the diversity of her role within the night team.

Kayleigh never underestimates the power of a massive cuddle for her patients. 💕The huge scope of her knowledge and experience is matched completely by the size of her heart. Thank you for all the love you give, Kayleigh.

15/05/2024

We are now fully booked for our Pet First Aid Awareness Evening!🥳

For those who have registered and are attending, we look forward to seeing next Wednesday at 7pm! 🙂

For those who missed out this time, please look out for details of future events!

14/05/2024

💚🩺DAY 14 - Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month🩺💚

It's day 14 of and introducing our diamond💎 from the Emerald Isle, ☘️- it's Lisa!

Lisa has been with us for 7 years and has recently progressed all the way to accepting a position as a Senior Veterinary Nurse. Her favourite way to showcase her great scope of knowledge and skills is within our referral medicine department, as she has a particular interest in endoscopy procedures and chemotherapy treatments. She is also a regular go-to for any technical questions we have about our CT scanner; a very high-tech piece of equipment. She's also happy working on wards, keeping on top of ensuring your pet gets their regular snack and cuddle intake, as these photos show!!

Lisa is one of our first aiders and joined our mental health team as a mental health first aid responder, which we're sure you'll agree is so important now more than ever. ❤️She is also part of the order team ensuring efficient stock ordering and rotation to ensure the smooth running of the practice.

We can see every day that Lisa always uses her knowledge to help support the wider nursing team further. She truly always has Vale's best interests at heart.

Thanks a million, Lisa.

13/05/2024

We are very much looking forward to this event next week! 🙂

There are 5 spaces left, so if you are interested but haven't yet registered, please contact us and our lovely reception team will add you to the list!

Would you know what to do if your cat or dog needed first aid?

Why not join us here at Vale Vets and Referrals on Wednesday 22nd May from 7-9pm, for our Pet First Aid Awareness Evening. This will be an informative and educational evening where you will learn all you need to know in how to manage a pet first aid emergency. This event is free of charge and refreshments will be provided!

If you are interested, you will need to register by either emailing us at [email protected] or you can call us on 01453 542092 - spaces are limited so make sure to register soon! 🐾

13/05/2024

💚🩺DAY 13 - Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month🩺💚

Meet our wonderful, Jade 💖

Jade is such a kind, conscientious & thorough nurse 🥰

Jade has been an RVN for three years and has been here with us at Vale since 2022. Although, you may not have seen her around recently because she's been busy caring for a baby of the non-furry variety and has only recently returned from maternity leave. 👶

Jade is at her happiest when she's looking after your pets in our hospital wards or greeting you in our nurse clinics.

Jade's main nursing passion is small furries - if your rabbit or guinea pig is here to visit us, you'll be sure to spot Jade somewhere helping out and having an all important cuddle! In the future, she hopes to complete a Nurses Certificate in Exotics.

Thanks for being such a super nurse, Jade - we love you! 💚 🩺

13/05/2024

***EDIT: OWNER LOCATED. RIP ❤️🐾***
On Sunday 12th May at around 10:45pm we had a cat brought in to us, sadly she had passed away after a road traffic accident.

She was a young adult, dark tabby without any collar and wasn't microchipped.

She was found on Bristol Road in Cambridge. If you think she might be yours please call us on 01453 542092. Thank you